All Hallows’ Eve 2 (2015)

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I don’t go in to movies wanting to dislike them, which pleases me when a movie manages to surprise me the way “All Hallows’ Eve 2” did. It’s still a mixed bag of horror, but when you get down to it, it’s still a solid anthology film that corrects a lot of the original film’s errors. Plus the mascot is just so much more appealing this time around. I won’t say “All Hallows’ Eve 2” is a masterpiece, but it’s strong enough to recommend to horror fans looking for a good time. Director Jessie Baget recruits a group of really interesting indie filmmakers to lend their shorts for this sequel, and while some of them are mere tricks, others are absolutely wonderful treats.

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Lost After Dark (2014)

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I appreciate the need for filmmakers to evoke the eighties building slasher movies within the confines of the decade, but often time movies can get so lost in paying homage to the culture, it doesn’t focus enough on entertaining. “Lost After Dark” falls victim to this gimmick where we have a movie set in the eighties and based around the eighties aesthetic, and yet fails to re-invent the wheel as a slasher film. While we’re at it, the whole grindhouse flourishes feel woefully superfluous to the film, and never adds anything. That said, “Lost After Dark” isn’t a bad movie, it just never manages to be anything but mediocre.

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Eaters (2011)

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It should serve as no surprise that a zombie movie produced by Uwe Boll is nothing but an empty and utterly tedious experience. I’m not going to proclaim “Eaters” as the worst zombie movie ever made, but it’s definitely one where there’s simply no substance and nothing to take away from it. It’s not too much to ask for a zombie movie where we can empathize with characters, and experience something exciting while also having a good time. “Dead Set” managed to accomplish that well.

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Ranking the “Night of the Living Dead” remakes from “Inspiring” to “What Were They Thinking?”

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notld-posterAt the moment there are almost five remakes of “Night of the Living Dead” in the works, as well as another attempt to remake “Day of the Dead.” One of the “Night” remakes is being tackled by Romero’s opportunist son, who wants to give us an origin of some kind. And there is just no stopping indie filmmakers from digging in to Romero’s masterwork and fiddling around with it to mold their own film out of it. There are many more indie filmmakers right now who think they can do better than Romero ever could, and we’ll just keep seeing more “Night” remakes. Especially now that making movies is so easy and accessible. What was once a tough task that required immense resources is now something that can be accomplished on a fucking cell phone. A cell phone!

Here is the list of “Night” remakes ranked from “Inspired” to “What Were They Thinking?” We’re not counting sequels, remakes of sequels, unofficial sequels, or loose sequels. We’re talking about movies that attempted to completely redo the 1968 “Night of the Living Dead.”

What is your least favorite “Night” remake?

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Dead Rising: Watchtower (2015)

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I won’t call “Dead Rising” the most original zombie movie ever made, but you have to give it to Zach Lipovsky. He makes a movie based around a zombie video game, and delivers big time on zombie carnage. Unlike “Resident Evil.” That said, while I wasn’t completely bowled over by the movie adaptation of the hit video game, I did find “Dead Rising” to be a surprisingly solid and entertaining zombie romp in the end. Its supply of guts and grue is hefty and it packs a punch with slick direction and some neat casting here and there. The film mixes dark comedy, horror and science fiction surprisingly well, with some good laughs followed by genuine zombie frights that I just dug from beginning to end.

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Dead Kansas (2015)

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I won’t accuse “Dead Kansas” of being a masterpiece of zombie cinema, but damn it you have to appreciate Aaron Carter’s ambition behind this project. I assume if given a huge budget, Carter would have given us a damn good zombie movie. But since it’s mainly a film on a tight budget, he gives us the best movie he can, and at times “Dead Kansas” has glimmers of a strong zombie film. In between it’s mediocre fodder with shaky performances. But damn, you have to appreciate the inherent ambition here.

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Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein (1999)

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The mythical Doctor Frankenstein spent years perfecting his monster which was tragically chased in to the maniacal doctor’s castle for all eternity. Hoping to escape the hatred from the villagers, the doctor travels to Hollywood in hopes of finding a way to perfect a formula. They accidentally cross paths with Alvin and the Chipmunks who are performing at a theme park very similar to Universal and Disney. While there they accidentally interrupt the Doctor who is performing experiments on his monster.

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